Throop Mill, Throop, Bournemouth, Dorsetshire
OS Map Grid Ref: SZ111957
Throop Mill is a picturesque part of the landscape of this area of the valley of the river Stour at the southern end of the village of Throop but inside it contains a remarkable set of milling machinery skillfully engineered in the best traditions of the early part of the twentieth century when, if the millers' life was still hard, the machinery still had a soul. If you get the opportunity to visit the Mill - take it - your local Tourist Information Centre and library will have details of opening.
 
The River Stour has been the main source of power for the Mill over the centuries. Until the early part of the 20th century the mill wheel was probably of the conventional overshot type but modernisation in 1912 led to the installation of 60-inch (152-cm) Armfield Turbine which revolved in a horizontal plane.
The turbine from Armfield Engineering which replaced the waterwheel at Throop Mill in 1912 at a cost of �165 image submitted by and copyright of webmaster on Sat., February 5, 2005 at 02:10h | |  |
The Mill could operate with water power until 1972 whent he course of the river Stour was altered to prevent flooding downstream - with the main channel of the Stour removed from the vicinty of the Mill, it was robbed of its water power. The water level needed to reach the mark on the disk mounted in the mill pond wall before the Mill could be started up. This could be achieved by controlling the sluice gates to divert water to the Mill. In later years power could also be provided by a diesel engine or electricity when the river level was too low.
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The water level needed to reach the mark on the disk mounted in the mill pond wall before Throop Mill could be started up image submitted by and copyright of webmaster on Sat., February 5, 2005 at 02:29h |
 
Part of the machinery at Throop Mill; power was transmitted around the building by an extensive series of belts, pulleys and chains which not only drove the machinery but also moved grain, bran and flour
image submitted by and copyright of webmaster on Sat., February 5, 2005 at 02:35h | |  |
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"Auger" or "screw" in the floor of Throop Mill; grain entering the building it was carried under the floor by a long series of augers or screws and transferred to a remarkable system of bucket elevators image submitted by and copyright of webmaster on Sat., February 5, 2005 at 02:48h |
Bucket elevators at Throop Mill; a remarkeable system of such elevators scooped up the grain and carried grain to the top of the building and, by way of more augers, to one of seven massive hoppers each capable of taking seven tons of grain
image submitted by and copyright of webmaster on Sat., February 5, 2005 at 03:04h | |  |
A remarkeable system of bucket elevators carried the grain to the top of the building and, by way of more augers,
to one of seven massive hoppers each capable of taking seven tons of grain.
Gravity, more bucket elevators and augers meant that it was possible for the
grain to become flour without having to be manhandled. This elaborate
but highly practical transport system meant that the mill could be controlled
by just two men. The system replaced the need to use a sack hoist although
one remained in the building.
 
Grain from the fields contains many imputirities including soil, straw, sticks,
stones and even bits of metal from the farm machinery. All these had to be
removed before the grain was passed through the finely adjusted
grinding machines. On the
ground and first floors of the Mill are air blowers to remove
chaff and dust and rapidly spinning sieves to remove sticks and
stones - magnets to remove any bits of metal from the grain where installed
at one point on the transport system.
Throop Mill at one time relied on mill stones to grind the grain
and two sets remained at the Mill until closed. Modernisation of
the Mill brought in the considerably more efficient process of
roller milling. The Mill contains four roller machines, bearing some
resembalnce to giant enclosed mangles. The
previously cleaned grain was passed between the
ground rollers which ran at different speeds and had finely
serated surfaces. The crushed and split grain could be put through
several times to reduce the particle size of the finished flour.
Roller milling was introduced at Throop to combat competition from
imported wheat which could be milled at the ports. This method could
extract more flour from the grain enabling a greater variety of
products to be produced, and also because imported hard wheat
caused more wear in the mill stones than the softer British and
European wheat. In later years the stones in the Mill were only
used for the grinding of animal feed.
"Dressing" is the processing of crushed grain to remove the bran to grade the flour. The machines which carried out dressing are located on the third and fourth floors and are basically of two types.
The main type of machine sifted the flour from the bran by passing the
crushed grain through horizontal cylinders one foot (30-cm) in
diameter and up to eight feet (2.4-metres) long. One end of the
rotating cylinder was slightly raised. The outside of the cylinder
was covered in a mesh either of wire or cloth and the flour would
fall through the mesh and the bran would continue to the end of the
cylinder.
The other type of sifting machine consisted of a horizontal sieve
which vibrated as a stream of air passed over the top to blow away
the lighter bran. One advantage of this process was that the bran
which still had flour attached could be passed through the roller
machines again to get the maximum amount of flour from the wheat.
The sifters and dressing machines allowed the miller at Throop to produce any of twenty-six different grades of flour for baking purposes including wholemeal and semolina. Some of the finest, whitest flour for confectionary baking was obtained by sifting through silk covered sieves and cylinders.
During World War II production at Throop Mill was stepped up and flour was sent from here to field bakeries as far as Portsmouth, Tidworth and Bovington.
A mill valued at 14s 6d serving the village of "Holeests", as Holdenhurst is recorded in William the Conqueror's Domesday Book of 1086, was here in Norman times but it is likely that milling here harks back to the Saxons. Henry I (1100-1135) granted the Mill to the De Redvers, lords of the secular manor of Christchurch. Hugh de Redvers granted all the rights to the river Stour at Throop and the Mill to the Abbot of Savigny. The Abbot, in turn, passed these on to Isabel de Fortibus, a French princess.
Isabel de Fortibus leased the mill to the monks of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight. The monks would not only have worked the mill, but also provide some education, healed the sick and aided the poor of Throop. The harvest was poor in 1272 and, with rents low, Isabel de Fortibus granted all rights of the Mill, assessed for tax at one guinea per annum, to the Abbey.
In 1282 the mill was leased to Christchurch Priory. By 1321, the value of Throop Mill had dropped to 4s per annum and the monks of Quarr Abbey decided to dispose of the mill and associated rights although it was no until 1323 that King Edward I (1272-1307) granted the charter giving licence for the transfer to Christchurch Priory.
In the 18th and 19th centuries the mill, as well as grinding the corn from the village, produced flour for the local industry of making ships' biscuits which was carried on in the long building next to Stour House.
The old Cobb Mill (the NE part) had been rebuilt late in the nineteenth century and the Sw part was rebuilt in 1900. An extra storey added in 1912 and, during the rebuilding, the horizontal 60-inch (152-cm) turbine from Armfield Engineering replaced the traditional vertical millwheel at a cost of £165.
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Turbine wheel at Throop Mill - horizontal 60-inch (152-cm) turbine from Armfield Engineering replaced the traditional vertical millwheel at a cost of £165 image submitted by and copyright of webmaster on Fri., February 4, 2005 at 22:30h |
In 1926 it was bought by Mr Parsons who cleared and altered the millrace - during these works the
masive stone foundations were laid bare and many pennies from the reigns of George III and George
IV were recovered. The mill was equiped with rollers as well as millstones and produced animal feed as well as flour.
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Many millers have worked at Throop Mill but few could have matched the record of Cecil (Cis) Biles. Cis started his fifty-years' work at the Mill in 1929 and never retired - he died on the top floor while painting a window, aged 82.
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The mill is now owned by Heygates Ltd (Bugbrooke Mills, Northampton, NN7 3QH).
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Open Day at Throop Mill (Aug. 2002). The Friends of Throop Mill insure the mill and staff it for three or so weekends every year to allow it to open its doors to the public - it is well worth the visit image submitted by and copyright of webmaster on Fri., February 4, 2005 at 22:37h
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2002
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15th & 16th June 11-5
20th & 21st July 11-5
24th & 25th August 11-5
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Full-sized photographs in this section are available to Site Members only. 5 of 1995 pictures selected . . . 
Watermills
Mills & Milling
RIVER STOUR
ON THIS SITE
THROOP VILLAGE
MILLS IN DORSET
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